Continuing a Series of Unfortunate Events
by Neradia
Summary: It is my woeful occupation to carry on my associate, Lemony Snicket's life work. I am sorry to say that the orphans lives don't get much better without Count Olaf, a dark cave, a dark rock a mysterious set of tunnels and cold soup on the floor is just some of the woes that the Quagmires and Baudelaires now have to deal with. I advise you not to read this but if you do - enjoy!
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Last time you heard of the Baudelaire orphans they were happy and safe, Count Olaf was dead and everything was peaceful. Violet was becoming a young woman and at 16, almost old enough to retrieve the Baudelaire fortune. Klaus was now 14 and had already suffered a broken heart and experienced some horribly unfortunate events yet was even more knowledgeable than ever. Sunny was no longer a baby but a mature 3 year old who had an extremely vast vocabulary and a great talent for cooking. The three siblings had also recently become carers for their newly adopted daughter, Beatrice. They had been living comfortably on a desert island but had finally decided that Beatrice was now old enough to leave her mother's grave behind and face the world's treachery and sorrow...

My associate, Lemony Snicket unfortunately ran out of time to research and update you on the Quagmire triplets' current events of that time due to an accident with seven suspicious ballerinas and a shovel. He managed to get chapter 14 to his editor before it was too late but sadly passed away (was brutally murdered) soon after the last in his series had been released to the public.

So now it is my solemn occupation to carry on my dear friend's lifework. I am writing this as a tribute to Lemony and fortunately you do not have to carry on reading this dreadful tale, you could be reading some other book with a delightful ending about fairies, elves and magical lands far away from this tragic world we live in. If you have already read Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events then you have already suffered enough, and that is all I will say on the matter.

As I sit here, tapping at the rusty keys on Lemony's old type writer (which I managed to obtain from an old friend who owed me a favour) I am thinking about all those who died for the noble cause of VFD. I will sit in silence on some nights just to wonder, wonder about what the world would be like if Jacques was still here, I still miss him after all these years and now there is no one but Beatrice, my wonderful niece who carries on the Snicket line. I have set eyes on her only once or twice, she looks so much like her mother its unbelievable. I wish I could speak to her, just contact her in some way but I must get on with my duty of informing the world of the woeful lives of the Baudelaire orphans.

I hope, now that you know a little more about me, I can carry on with the terrible tale that my research has uncovered...


	2. Chapter One

**Chapter One**

I think we'll begin with the Quagmires- it's somewhere to start. According to Kit Snicket, the Quagmires had either been rescued or swallowed up by The Great Unknown, Lemony never got to research this part of the Quagmire's lives. If, at this point you have no idea what I'm talking about, maybe you should read A Series of Unfortunate Events. Personally, I think it would be ridiculous if you haven't read them and you have no idea who the Quagmire orphans are – why would you read the 14th book in a series if you haven't read the first thirteen? So if you are lost- GO AWAY and read the series and come back when you are ready. Sorry about that for those of you who _have_ read the series and in case you have forgotten 'The Great Unknown' is what my brother-in-law used to call a mysterious submarine, we encountered on numerous occasions, when it is near you can sense the unnatural feeling of something so terrible and deadly all you want to do is crawl under the table and weep. Lemony apparently knew what was on it but wouldn't reveal anything more than that and according to his research even Count Olaf was afraid of it.

The Quagmire triplets, who were with Fiona, Fernald, Phil, Hector and Captain Widdershins, were instantaneously sucked into a darkness that they had only experienced once before in an ersatz elevator shaft in a residence on Dark Avenue. Fiona had also experienced the darkness once when she and the Baudelaire siblings were searching for a sugar bowl in a dark cave near Anwhistle Aquatics. As for the others it is possible they had experienced it too but that's irrelevant right now.

"Violet! Violet! Violet!" Quigley Quagmire yelled as he and his companions fell into the consuming darkness. Violet of course was far away being greeted by Ishmael and wouldn't have heard him. He was desperate to see Violet again and missed her terribly, wishing he could've gone to meet her on Briny Beach but of course he had to rescue his own siblings from an aerie of eagles.

Suddenly, the eight companions crashed in a big heap onto a large net. When I say large that does not mean that it fit four fifteen year olds and four fully grown men, so they were all sprawled on top of each other,

"Who's squishing my leg?"

"Izzy, is that your hand on my face?"

"Phil, I think I'm on top of you"

"Yeah it is my hand, Hector is it?"

"No, Phil, and who's on top of me?"

"Fernald, aye, are you OK?"

"Get off me, Fiona!"

"My leg hurts"

"My arm hurts"

"I'm at the bottom of the pile"

"I'm at the top!"

"Who's at the top?"

"I'm hungry"

"Where are we?"

"Hey Duncan, I've got some raisins"

"Where are you?"

"I want raisins!"

"Yeah, me too!"

"Who's got raisins?"

"I hate raisins, aye!"

All this was going on at the same time; hardly anyone could hear anything anyone was saying until Captain Widdershins bellowed with his booming voice, "Aye, everyone needs to be quiet, aye!"

There was complete silence. "We need to think of a plan, aye! We need to find out who runs this vessel, aye! We need to act fast, aye! He who hesitates is lost! Aye!" continued Captain Widdershins in his usual manner.

Fiona nodded in agreement, "Aye!"

The group sorted themselves out until two people sat at each corner of the net so no one kept on slipping into the middle. "I wish Violet was here" murmured Quigley, "she could invent something to get us out of here"

"Why can't we invent something?" Hector asked.

"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt trying, and it would be fun too!" Phil chirped in.

Quigley looked at his commonplace book for ideas but the darkness was too great for him to read his small, scrawny handwriting. "We could try climbing down there" Isadora pointed towards the dark space beneath them, of course nobody saw that she pointed but everyone knew what she meant.

Fiona peered into the dark depths "I'm not sure that it would be safe to go down there, where does it -?"

There was an almighty crash that interrupted Fiona coming from beneath the group. Isadora clutched Duncan's hand tightly. They could hear Fiona whimpering next to her brother, Fernald, as he whispered, "Shh!"

Without warning a rasping voice shouted up from below "Who's there?"

"What do we do?" whispered Isadora frantically, "I mean do we want them to know we're here or not? I'm so confused!"

"Hello! Hello?" The rasping voice shouted loudly.

"Hello! There are people up here!" Hector shouted back.

Everyone glared at the direction Hector's voice came from.

"Sorry! I got nervous, that voice reminded me of the elders in my old village... I'm sorry"

"Don't worry" Phil sounded as though he was smiling, "It'll probably turn out for the best...right?"

The group stayed silent and just huddled up to their partners as the net started to slowly move downwards...

"You should not be here" whispered the rasping voice, this time it came from right beside them making Hector jump. The man lit a candle and the light on his old crinkled face flickered scarily as he shook his head slowly "You should definitely not be here" his voice grated, "If they found the likes of you, oh, I dread to think"

A chill ran down the backs of the companions making them shudder.

"Hmmm, what shall I do?" the old man asked himself quietly, "They would be so happy with me and the sugar bowl too of course... yes..."

Duncan at this point couldn't help himself "Um... why would they be happy with a sugar bowl?" he smirked.

"Shut up Duncan, stop being an idiot" hissed Isadora, she glanced worriedly at the old man, waiting anxiously to see how he would respond to her brother.

The old man, however, didn't seem to hear either of the two triplets he carried on muttering to himself as the group stared at him awaiting his verdict.

"I could, of course, do the noble thing... but I could get in lots of trouble, I need to keep out of trouble... don't want to rock the boat... but where's my VFD spirit?"

"Wait!" said Quigley quickly, "Did you say VFD?"

The man looked up, startled by Quigley's sudden outburst.

"No, no, no" muttered the old man looking as though he'd seen a ghost, "They mustn't know"

Then he looked straight at Quigley, holding his candle up and spoke directly to Quigley, "I am sorry, sir. Mr Quagmire, Sir Quagmire, I had no idea they plotted to burn down your mansion, I'm just an old man, surely you understand sir? Think about the old times, all I taught you... You'll forgive an old man won't you?"

"What is he talking about? How does he know who I am?" Quigley whispered hoarsely.

"Sir, I am seeing double," the old man shakily pointed towards Duncan, "Or is this just a trick? Please speak to me sir! Please! I've done nothing wrong! I don't deserve to be haunted!"

"Haunted?" Quigley looked taken aback, "I'm not a-"

The old man interrupted him hurriedly "Fine, fine, fine! What must I do to free your spirit, I'll do anything!"

"For the last time," Quigley was looking agitated "I am not a-"

"Wait! Quigley, ask him if he'll help us out of here, I think we should've gone with Kit after all... I hope she's OK..." Isadora trailed off sadly. Fortunately, by that time Kit had just been washed up on the coastal shelf and had not been _fatally_ harmed... yet.

With a deep sigh of frustration mostly about their whole situation Quigley addressed the old man, "You have failed me... I trusted you... Yet I am kind and I will forgive you if you help us get out of here" Quigley made his voice sound grand and it echoed around the walls.

The old man paused thinking carefully before he replied,

"Come" and he started to walk away.

I have only met Gus once before at a dinner party and I got the impression he was a bit mad; it seems from my research that he has got madder over time, if by any chance, Gus, you are reading this (may I ask how you are?) I am sorry for any offense...

Gus led the group (once they'd all clambered out of the net) down a small passageway. It was damp and dark with only glowing green lamps every so often which made the atmosphere eerie. All that could be heard was a frequent drip and the footsteps of the party that echoed around the hall. The walls were covered in a green seaweed or some sort of slime making Fiona shudder when she accidently brushed her fingers against the slippery surface.

"Where are we?" Phil asked nervously.

"I think we might be under the sea, I don't think we're on that submarine anymore, it's not _that_ big" Isadora replied quietly.

"But how did we leave the submarine?" asked Hector.

"Aye!" said Captain Widdershins, "I've heard o' this place, aye, Tinworth Tunnels, started somewhere near Cornwall, aye, but I thought they were just a myth, aye, apparently they go all around the world... aye."

"How would you know they were Tinworth Tunnels?" Fernald spat.

"Aye, lad, because that be the sign, aye for the Tinworth Tunnels" Captain Widdershins said slowly pointing towards an inscription in the wall. It was like a hand but a deformed hand. Isadora shivered, "Can we keep walking? I don't like the look of that sign at all..."

Soon they reached an old door. "Hey! Isn't that a Vernacularly Fastened Door?" Quigley asked eagerly.

Gus turned to face him slowly peering carefully at Quigley's face, "Yes, of course it is, you're the one who invented them, sir... Are you really Declan Quagmire?"

Quigley widened his eyes, Declan Quagmire was the father of the triplets before he and his wife died in a terrible fire, had his father really invented this clever device? Quigley shot a glance at Duncan who frowned slightly and shrugged.

Quigley put on a deep voice "Would I lie to you? How dare you doubt me after all we've been through?"

This seemed to convince Gus, he shiftily typed into the keypad and the door swung open. Gus gestured for them to walk through. "I can't come any further, they're already suspicious..." Gus glanced around then waved goodbye to Quigley before hurrying down the corridor muttering to himself again.

"Well he seemed nice, didn't he?" Phil smiled around.

Everyone decided to ignore him and they all walked through the doorway...

"Hey who said they had raisins again?

**...**

The group found themselves in a large room with five numbered doors leading off in different directions. There were round windows that looked out into the sea but they were too busy to look out, if they had only paused to take some time to... but it is too late to dwell on the past.

"Which way do we go?" asked Hector nervously.

But no-one replied Hector coughed loudly, "We can't just stay here forever..."

There was a pause then Hector said slowly "We're going this way", and he walked through the door marked 3. The door swung shut behind him and closed with a click. "Well, come on then" said Isadora.

She walked over to the door and grabbed the handle, she turned it and pulled, then pushed, then pulled some more. Rattling the handle she shouted loudly "Hector! Hector! Hector?"

"Oh my God, oh my God! What are we going to do?" Everyone started panicking. Suddenly there was a loud click coming from door number 5. Everyone held their breath...

"Well that was a bit scary..."

"Hector!" Isadora cried, running towards him and hugging him, "I was so scared!"

Hector smiled, "Hey, don't worry, I was only gone a couple of seconds." then he addressed the rest of the group, "When I walked through the door I found this little passageway, I followed it and it led me back here – that means 3 and 5 are pointless. Let's try number 2, we came through 4, let's hope we don't end up coming out of number 1!"

The group followed Hector quickly through the door marked number 2, holding it open for each other as they went. They found themselves in another room much larger than the one they'd just stepped out of. The room was painted a warm orange colour that wasn't too bright; it had a massive fireplace, the mantle adorned with little treasures, like a large conch shell and a little figurine that you would only recognise if you'd ever been to Caligari Carnival; there were little round portholes that had tiny circular curtains that fit to size. In the middle of the room there was a huge, beautiful, fluffy rug. 10 soft, mismatched armchairs were scattered around this homely room. But it was not the warm colours, nor the warm feel that put the huge grin on Fiona and Fernald's faces. It was the woman sitting on the armchair closest to the fire, the woman that had believed to have been killed in an accident involving some brutal manatees. Their mother stood up abruptly. "Well get over here then, you lemons!" She laughed she hugged her children in a tight embrace.

"Nebs! You're here too? This is amazing! Like a family reunion!" She looked overjoyed as she spoke to Captain Widdershins.

Captain Widdershins' usually ruddy face turned pale. "Wednesday?" he whispered hoarsely, "Is it really you?"

"Yes..." Wednesday replied hesitantly, doubt spread across her face like a dark cloud, "I'm sorry for all I've put you through Nebs, it was all for the best – I didn't want to hurt you..."

Captain Widdershins strode over to where she was standing; he paused in front of her, and then swept her and his step-children into a massive hug. Wednesday started crying "I've missed you all so much!"

"Mother?" Fiona asked, "I still don't understand... Why did you fake your death? Why are you here?"

Wednesday smiled sadly "Of course you don't understand, darling. There are secrets in this world too terrible for young people to know... I will tell you this, I've made a home for myself here, it's safe and warm and we've got everything we need – all far away from the treachery of the world."

"That's not right!" interrupted Quigley, vehemently "The whole point of the world is sometimes it's not safe, you take risks, and sometimes you're in danger but it's life- you can't run away from it!"

"And who might you be?" frowned Wednesday.

"My name's Quigley"

"A Quagmire?" as Quigley nodded Wednesday continued, "Well Mr. Quagmire, while you may find a life full of adventure and danger fun, I do not – I've had my fair share but you will not tell me my beliefs are 'not right' in my own home!" Wednesday got more and more angry.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to cause offense" Quigley whispered meekly.

"Humpf!" Wednesday turned her back, arms folded.

"So are you staying here?" Isadora asked Captain Widdershins, Fernald and Fiona.

Fiona glanced at her mother and then at Fernald. He nodded and Fiona looked at Isadora "Please tell Klaus I am sorry... for everything"

"You're staying?" Phil seemed taken aback.

"Aye, Cookie! I wouldn't let Wednesday out of my sight again for anything, even the sugar bowl!

"Then, can I live here too?" asked Phil quietly, "It's just, I've really come to like you guys and..."

"Of course you can!" smiled Wednesday, "You can all stay!"

As she said this she glanced at Quigley scornfully, he reacted by sticking his tongue out. Wednesday widened her eyes in disbelief and muttered about childish behaviour and bad upbringing.

Quigley just grinned "We're not staying – right Hector?"

"I'm staying with you three; you need a responsible adult to keep you in check." Hector grinned back.

"Take some supplies with you then" said Fiona, "I'll help get them – mother where's the kitchen?"

**...**

After a quick nap the triplets were just about ready to leave. Hector had packed a bag full of essentials and Wednesday had even lent them some money that she no longer needed.

"The exit is just down that passage way" said Wednesday**.**

"Have a safe journey!"

"Goodbye!"

"We'll miss you!"

"Don't hesitate, he who hesitates is lost!"

"Or she"

The Quagmires and Hector waved goodbye to their companions as they walked down the passageway Wednesday had pointed out. At the end there was a spindly ladder that led up to a small round hatch in the ceiling. Hector went first, opening the round hatch. "We're on a beach!" He called down.

The Quagmires all climbed up. Last was Quigley, "I know which beach this is!" He cried, "We're on Briny Beach!"


	3. Chapter Two

**Shiny Snicket: Thanks so much for reviewing! I am so happy you like the beginning and yeah I was trying to write off those characters. And I know the title is a bit lousy, it was a bit rushed ****:s****. I have reviewed your story Book 14: The Unpleasant Unknown, it's really well written. Thanks for reviewing again...**

**Chapter Two**

Briny Beach is several minutes walking distance from the remains of the Baudelaire Mansion. Before their parents' death, Briny Beach was a happy place for the Baudelaires; they would spend hours scouring the stony shore for, smooth, round, flat pebbles, rare types of seaweed, strange sea creatures and hard things to bite. Yet on the fateful day of Bertram and Beatrice's deaths, the Baudelaire siblings had received that terrible news on Briny Beach and ever since then the place has been dull and lifeless to them. A place that held bad memories and nothing else, like all the good ones had just been erased from their minds. None of the Quagmires however, had such aversions to the beach as only Quigley had been there before and he'd quite enjoyed sitting on the shore with Kit, eating a picnic that another member of VFD had kindly prepared. Needless to say they found it a wonderful place; Isadora was already thinking up a couplet about the beautiful shells and pebbles; Quigley was looking around and writing in his commonplace book about the position of certain large rocks and thinking about which would be the best to sit on; Duncan was looking in one of the rock pools wishing he had his commonplace book with him so he could write down his discoveries. Hector had never been to the seaside before and was overwhelmed by the sea, the sky and the beautiful sunrise it brought with it. Before he knew it he had thrown off his tattered shoes and socks and was paddling in the sea with a colossal smile on his face. For that morning the Quagmires forgot about their worries, of the Baudelaires, their parents, Olaf and other villainous persons. They just enjoyed their time together as they felt things were going right in their lives for once.

Around midday Duncan realised they hadn't had any breakfast and it was coming on to lunch. The group all sat down on a large rock Quigley had discovered that curved up in such a way that it was actually quite comfortable. Isadora handed out the sandwiches Wednesday had made as her brothers and new guardian scoffed them down. Once everyone was completely full Hector decided that he needed to start becoming more responsible and told the siblings the rest of the day was to be employed trying to find a cheap hotel to spend the night in. Eventually they found a little bed and breakfast place that was called 'Molly's B&B', the outside was a little shabby but inside it was warm and cosy and the owner was friendly and welcoming. The triplets fell asleep quickly; none of them had slept in a proper, comfy bed in ages. Hector was more restless, they didn't have much money, they needed to find a new safe place for the VFD headquarters and they needed to find the Baudelaires. He decided he would try and find work first thing the next day but he was nervous, the only job he'd ever had was being the handyman and that was because his father was a handyman before him – he'd never applied for a job before.

The triplets were up at 6:30 am; Duncan and Isadora had gone down to the reception and had received notebooks from the kind owner. Quigley had been sketching a map of the city and when Duncan and Isadora came back they started writing about everything that had happened to them, from the beginning. So when Hector woke up the triplets (bored of their note making as nothing interesting was happening) were fighting. Well Duncan and Quigley were wrestling on the floor and Isadora was yelling the commentary as loud as she could. "Guys!" shouted Hector, "Come on! Stop fighting, we've got to go out!"

After a long morning (and then afternoon) of hunting through the districts Hector decided to look for hotels to stay in. They found a little one in the Bank District called The Bank Hotel, he told the triplets to go and ask for a room with space for four people to sleep. He gave them some of the last of the money and said he was going to carry on looking for a job and that he didn't know when he'd be getting back.

The receptionist at the hotel wasn't nearly as nice as Molly from the B&B in fact, she was extremely haughty. "Can we have a room with space for four people to sleep, please?" Quigley asked smiling at the woman behind the desk. She gave him a glare which told the three siblings that they already weren't welcome. "There's one on floor six but I seriously doubt that you'd be able to afford it" she sneered at Isadora's dress which had got a bit grubby the day before at Briny Beach. Quigley, who had a quick temper, looked like he was about to kill someone so Isadora quickly said "How much is it?"

The receptionist looked uncomfortable, "Well, you know..."

"How much?" Duncan grinned.

"£10 a night but..."

"We'll take that one then" smiled Isadora sweetly.

The receptionist just scowled and handed over the keys to Quigley.

"What was her problem?" Duncan laughed as the triplets reached the lift, "She was really stuck up, right?"

But Quigley was looking behind them, frozen.

"What's up, Quig?" Duncan paused.

Suddenly Quigley spun around and pressed the button of the lift repeatedly with more and more urgency, "Don't look behind, keep your faces hidden, keep still" Quigley whispered franticly.

Isadora and Duncan looked at each other, eyes wide but they knew better than to speak out. Isadora shifted closer to Duncan, worried about what her brother had seen. The lift arrived and they hurriedly rushed inside. "Well, what the hell was that about?" Isadora hissed at Quigley.

Quigley took a deep breath, "It was the man with a beard, but no hair!"

"Who?" Duncan asked crossly, he had been terrified and now it turned out to be someone he'd never even heard of, "how can you have a beard if you have no hair anyway" he thought furiously.

"Come on don't you guys remember him?" asked Quigley with uncertainty, he'd expected some gasps at least.

Isadora and Duncan frowned "No we don't! Is this your idea of a joke Quigley? Because we aren't laughing... we were terrified!" Isadora snapped- fire in her eyes.

"No, no, I remember now, you weren't there, he was with this woman with hair but no beard on top of Mount Fraught, they met up with Count Olaf and...

"It's another one of Quigley's pranks" snarled Isadora, she was upset that she'd let her emotions betray her downstairs; she had even whimpered and now felt humiliated.

"Just listen to me!" Quigley cried, "Violet and I climbed up a frozen waterfall using one of her genius inventions... and we found Sunny at the top. Then we heard Olaf coming and we hid underneath his car, he and Esmé were soon joined by two sinister looking pairs of shoes (we couldn't see their faces) they had a certain aura of menace surrounding them, I suddenly felt very cold and my spine tingled. Just as they walked away I managed to get a glance at what the man looked like then Sunny explained who they were, well, sort of – she didn't really know either but apparently Count Olaf is really scared of them. While I was up on the mountain he did whatever they asked and Sunny said he trembled a lot every time they were near to him. And I'm not lying!" This long and sudden outburst from Quigley made Duncan and Isadora realise he was actually telling the truth and they were both secretly quite relieved. "Oh..." said Duncan awkwardly.

Then Isadora and Quigley started laughing nervously and Duncan soon joined in and the tension cleared. It took them a minute to realise the lift had already stopped at the sixth floor and then gone on again heading up to the thirteenth floor. "Whoops" giggled Isadora as she saw that the lift was past their floor. She pressed the button for the sixth floor again and they all waited in silence as the lift stopped on the thirteenth floor.

A woman with hair but no beard stepped in but the triplets didn't need to see her face to know who she was, they all felt the aura of menace and a tingle down their spines. Isadora held her breath as the woman with hair but no beard leaned across her and pressed the button for the lobby. They were all frozen, not daring to look anywhere but straight ahead. The doors opened slowly and the woman with hair but no beard grunted. They walked out of the lift as calmly as they could, not wanting to draw attention to themselves. Just as the lift doors were closing again the women with the hair but no beard suddenly gasped "Hang on, I think I recognise-"

The doors abruptly shut in her face. "Oh my God! What are we gonna do?" cried Duncan hysterically.

"We need to calm down first" said Quigley hoarsely.

Isadora seemed the only one who had a steady plan, "We'll go to our hotel room, there is a lock, and they don't even know what room we are in or who we even are. If they do manage to find us we'll climb down the fire escape, ok?"

Quigley and Duncan looked at their sister in awe at how calm she was about meeting such a horrible person, and how she could come up with a good plan so quickly. They found their room hastily (Room 13) and they decided they wouldn't go downstairs for dinner, just in case...


	4. Chapter Three

**Thanks for reviewing!**

**Shiny Snicket: I can't believe I got Bertrand wrong! Thanks for pointing that out though...**

**Tabithatibi: I am really glad you like it! Thanks for reviewing!**

**I am not sure about this chapter...let me know what you think.**

**Chapter Three**

Hector arrived at the hotel around 10, weary and tired he made his way over to the receptionist's desk. She was just shutting up. "Excuse me" Hector said, "Has anyone booked under the name of Quagmire, it's just I'm supposed to be meeting them here and..."

Hector faltered under her suspicious gaze. Suddenly he had an idea, "The world is quiet here" he said softly, it was worth a try.

The receptionist looked shocked, then she smiled and managed to whisper "sixth floor, room thirteen"

Hector felt her gaze follow him as he started to climb the stairs; he had a phobia of lifts. When he finally reached room number 13 he knocked slowly. There was no sound; he waited for a couple more seconds wondering if they'd all fallen asleep. He knocked again, louder. This time there was a crash coming from the other side of the door. "Hello?" Hector asked, puzzled.

Then he said quickly "It's me guys, the world is quiet here, guys?"

The door opened seconds later revealing a sheepish looking Duncan, "Sorry Hector but we had to be sure it was you"

Hector smiled "Don't worry about it, hey, have you guys had dinner yet?" he held up a paper bag grinning.

"We're starving!" Isadora's eyes glinted.

The next morning the triplets told Hector about the man with the beard but no hair and the women with the hair but no beard, they hadn't wanted to ruin his good mood the night before. The main reason he was so happy was because he'd got a job! He was now a waiter at a café just round the corner from the hotel and even though the pay wasn't great, it was enough and Hector was over the moon. The triplets were also over the moon to see him so happy and decided to tell him about their evening the next day.

"What?" Hector looked absolutely terrified; his eyes were wider than they could go and his hands were trembling. He took a deep breath, then slowly got up and walked around the small room, "I think I need some time" he said in a quiet voice.

The triplets looked at each other, they hadn't expected him to react this badly, "Sure, we'll just go into the bedroom" Quigley nodded at his siblings and they walked into the slightly smaller room with two beds crammed into it. As they sat down the beds creaked loudly. "Did you see his face?" Duncan was the first to speak.

"I know, maybe we shouldn't have told him, he's not used to a life like this, remember he used to live in a small village with lots of strict rules" Isadora replied.

"You don't think we overreacted do you?" asked Quigley worriedly.

Hector didn't speak to the triplets for the rest of the morning and now they were really scared. Around midday Duncan had suggested they go out and leave Hector to get some peace, even though they had tried to be really quiet all morning.

They ended up going to a café and assumed it was the one Hector was going to work in. "Lucky Hector doesn't start work until Monday" Isadora said as they stepped through the door. They took a seat near the window and started talking in hushed voices about Hector and the Baudelaires, it was nice to just relax and chat without VFD interfering for once, either side of the schism. A waitress approached them and asked if they needed anything, once they had replied she hurried away to get their orders. "But where do you think they are right now?" Quigley was talking about the Baudelaires.

"Well they could be anywhere" Duncan replied.

Isadora interrupted, "Well, let's think, we last heard from them when they sent us the signal from Hotel Denouement"

"But the Baudelaires could be anywhere now" Duncan frowned.

"Um, excuse me?"

The waitress arrived with their hot beverages. Quigley coughed loudly and hurriedly said "Yeah, well thanks"

"I didn't realise this was a sad occasion..." the waitress remained where she was still holding the tea on the tray.

Duncan and Isadora looked confused but Quigley was grinning "The world is quiet here" he said smiling.

The waitress looked relieved and gave him a napkin before walking off, still with the tea. "What was that about?" Isadora sighed; she was exhausted with everything in their lives being to do with VFD.

But Quigley didn't seem to have heard her; he was staring at the napkin with a look of complete concentration on his face. "Quig? What does it say?" Duncan assumed it must be something to do with VFD, and was getting annoyed at Quigley completely ignoring him and Isadora. "Quigley!" Isadora sounded angry so Quigley reluctantly handed over the napkin...

_When, to their airy hall, __**n**__y father's voic__**o**__  
>Shall call my spirit, joyful in th<em>_**a**__ir choice;  
>When, poised upon <em>_**c**__he gale, my form sh__**e**__ll ride,  
>Or, dark in mis<em>_**s**__, descend __**a **__mountains side;  
>Oh! may my shade <em>_**s**__ehold no sculptured urns,  
>To mark the spot wh<em>_**a**__re e__**i**__rth to earth returns!  
>No lengthen'd s<em>_**k**__roll, no praise-encumber'd stone;  
>My epitaph shall be my name alone:<br>If that with __**k**__onour fail to crown my clay,  
>Oh! may no other fame my deeds repay!<br>That, only that, shall single out the spot;  
>By that remember'd, or with that forgot. <em>

"It's just a poem" Isadora shrugged, "It's interesting and has some major spelling mistakes but it's not that important, she passed it to Duncan.

"It must be some sort of code" Quigley insisted desperately. He frowned concentrating again. Isadora raised her eyebrows and looked at Duncan but Duncan was wearing the same expression as Quigley. "Hey, Izzy do you remember when we sent poems to Violet, Klaus and Sunny when we were in the Village of Fowl Devotees..."

"Hang on!" interrupted Isadora, she swiped the napkin out of Duncan's hands "W, S, W, O, O, T, N, M, I, O, T, B... no, I don't think it works" she said sadly, seeing if the beginning of each line hid a secret message.

"Jacques taught me a lot about VFD codes; I used one a bit like this when I sent a telegram to the Baudelaires" Quigley took the napkin from Isadora and a pen out of his pocket, he studied the napkin carefully circling some random letters before looking up at his expectant brother and sister.

"I don't know this poem; we're going to have to go to the library"

At the library they asked a librarian if he recognised the poem, he was a bit puzzled as to why it was written on a napkin but told the triplets it was written by the poet, Lord Byron. He showed them where to look and left them to it.

"Wait! Go back, I think I saw something!" Isadora grabbed the book and flicked back through the pages, "Here!"

_When, to their airy hall, my father's voice  
>Shall call my spirit, joyful in their choice;<br>When, poised upon the gale, my form shall ride,  
>Or, dark in mist, descend the mountains side;<br>Oh! may my shade behold no sculptured urns,  
>To mark the spot where earth to earth returns!<br>No lengthen'd scroll, no praise-encumber'd stone;  
>My epitaph shall be my name alone:<br>If that with honour fail to crown my clay,  
>Oh! may no other fame my deeds repay!<br>That, only that, shall single out the spot;  
>By that remember'd, or with that forgot. <em>

Quigley looked at the poem and compared it to the one on the napkin he wrote out some letters at the bottom of the napkin in order. "I've got it" he grinned, "It says, 'meet at the beach' and I think I know which beach it is"


	5. Chapter Four

**Chapter Four**

Briny Beach was as empty. The sky was filled with colossal, black, grey clouds that promised a heavy downpour - soon. Violet looked up at the sky, relieved. She hadn't thought about what would happen if the sun had been shining, the beach would have been packed, and her and her siblings were still wanted for murder and arson. This made her think about what she was running from, the police, justice? She had murdered Dewey Denouement and burnt down the Denouement Hotel on purpose putting hundreds of lives at risk. Maybe if she had just stopped fighting against Count Olaf and his troupe at the beginning, Dewey and Kit would still be alive, maybe Jacques and Uncle Monty would be too. Violet thought, as she stood on the stony shore, about all the people that had died because of her and her siblings. She also thought about all the people who could be dead: Justice Strauss, Jerome, Charles, Hector, Phil, Isadora, Duncan... Quigley.

She sat down heavily on a nearby rock, and wondered and thought and grieved for her parents and all the lives that had ever been ruined by VFD. Violet hated being alone with her thoughts, she wished someone would arrive soon. Just someone to talk to. To take her mind off things for a while. Violet had always been impatient and she hated waiting...

Violet jumped up and spun around suddenly, she had heard something from behind her. "I knew you'd come" she smiled before falling into the triplets arms.

"Um," said Duncan uncertainly "I'm sorry but who are you?"

The triplets were all looking completely befuddled at Violet's sudden and quite awkward hug.

Violet was taken aback, "What? You don't recognise me?" Her voice quivered as she looked at Quigley worriedly. She suddenly grinned and took off the diving helmet that covered her face, "I completely forgot I had this on!"

Isadora hugged Violet tightly before her brothers quickly joined in. Violet felt happier than she had in a long time. "Where's Klaus?" asked Isadora as they broke apart, "...and Sunny." she added quickly.

"They're fine; they're just taking care of Bea." Violet looked downcast at this.

"Who's Bea?" asked Duncan.

"Kit's daughter, well our adopted daughter now" Violet still looked upset.

"Where's Kit? What happened to Kit? Why is she your _adopted _daughter?" Isadora gushed.

Violet looked up at her friend, "Kit's dead – she risked her life to save her baby. She breathed in some Medusoid Mycelium and-" Violet shuddered, "She couldn't eat the apple that would save her..."

"That's horrible," whispered Isadora.

"Its fine really, she's with Dewey now (Bea's father) and Jacques... and Bea's got us but..."

Violet burst into tears without warning. Duncan looked at Quigley and widened his eyes as Isadora comforted her. "Vi, is there something you're not telling us?" Isadora said uncomfortably.

"I'll show you" Violet hiccupped.

She walked round a small cove; Quigley noticed how fragile she looked as they followed. She looked like she hadn't eaten in days. Violet reached a small cave and stopped. She stooped her head and walked in, before pulling out a small rowing boat with much difficulty. The triplets hurried to help her and slowly set off. Violet sat at the till, moving the boat and keeping close to the rocks as Duncan and Quigley rowed. The friends didn't say anything as the boat bobbed up and down. Violet made a sharp turn and they were rowing right into a large cave. Before long the bottom of the boat scraped against sand. They all jumped out of the boat and pulled it up onto the tiny beach. There were holes in the rocky walls of the cave that seemed to tunnel off though none of the triplets could guess where. Violet walked up to one of the holes and climbed through, disappearing in the darkness. The three siblings quickly followed her. After crawling on their hands and knees for what seemed like hours, they found themselves in a small cave. There was a large pile of books in one corner that looked unusually dusty. There were four makeshift beds in the middle and sitting on top of one was a weary looking Klaus, an exhausted looking Sunny and a tiny little toddler in their arms with her little eyes closed. Immediately the triplets sensed something was wrong. Klaus looked up as they ran over, smiling sadly he greeted them. Sunny smiled too but soon drew her attention back to Beatrice.

"What happened?" Quigley whispered, it was the first words he had uttered since they found Violet. He had been so excited to see her but know it felt like she was letting him down, like she was ignoring him. Maybe she met someone else. He tried not to think about what would happen if she had, it hurt too much.

Klaus answered him after a pause, "I suppose we better start from the beginning"

The Baudelaires told the Quagmires their story gradually, started from when they were split up from Quigley, they told them about: the Medusoid Mycelium and Fiona and Captain Widdershins and Fernald and the tagliatelle grande; about Hotel Denouement and Frank, Dewey and Ernest and the harpoon gun and the blindfolded courtroom and the deceitful high court and the fire they caused (with much crying and sobbing); about a storm and the islanders and Ishmael and Friday and the mutiny and more Medusoid Mycelium and a secret hideout and Count Olaf and Kit Snicket and Beatrice and even more Medusoid Mycelium and the coastal shelf and when they decided to leave the island. After two hours of telling the beginning of explaining what happened to Beatrice they realised it felt good to just let it all out. Their mouths were now really dry though so they decided to take a break and filtered some sea water with an invention of Violet's and had a drink with some biscuits Sunny had managed to make from flour, water and bitter apples. "Well we were in 'the Beatrice' when we saw another storm" explained Klaus, "but this one looked worse than the one we'd encountered with Count Olaf so, we tied everything together with some rope we'd brought with us. We all held onto each other and hoped after escaping Count Olaf so many times we were not going to met our end in a storm. When the storm hit we were able to keep hold of each other but we lost the end of the rope and the boat; it was completely ripped apart and bits of wood flew at us from every angle. One hit Bea on the head and she's been unconscious ever since..." Klaus paused but looked determined to finish the story "Well the storm eventually died down and we all held Beatrice out of the water as much as we could so she wouldn't swallow any more of it. We realised we needed to get back to land, luckily I have read about tides when I studied those charts on the Queequeg and Violet made a compass so I was able to work out where we were. It turned out if we stayed on the current it would take us back to Briny Beach. It took us a while but we eventually washed up in that cave through there," he pointed to the hole they had crawled through. "We've been taking it in turns to go get supplies in disguise when Sunny thought she saw you and Hector. We managed to get a waitress to send you a message and we took it in turns to look out for you on the beach and... I think that's it."

Klaus looked happy that he'd finally finished but exhausted. "We'll tell you what happened to us later, first, you guys need to get some sleep, and we'll watch Beatrice for you. Second, we need to get Hector, he's probably really worried." Isadora took charge at once smiling at the bleary-eyed Baudelaires.

Duncan and Quigley went to find Hector and Isadora took Beatrice from a reluctant Sunny, the Baudelaires lay down, yawning, onto the sheets.

Sunny jerked herself awake instantaneously; she had no idea what woke her up but she felt scared. She was sure someone was watching her. She got up slowly and cautiously made her way around the dim cave feeling the walls with her hands. All of a sudden, a bright light shone straight at her. "Sunny? Are you OK? Get back to sleep, come on. You need it" Isadora led Sunny back towards the middle of the cave. "But...but...I was sure" Sunny protested half-heartedly but soon felt her eyelids droop...


	6. Chapter Five

**Sorry this chapter is so short _and_ late, I've had to rewrite it a few times...sorry...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Five<strong>

"Hello? Hello? Izzy?"

Isadora looked up; she had been trying, unsuccessfully, to wake up Beatrice. She put the tiny child down gently and walked warily to the mouth of the tunnel which led to the larger cave. She peered down it before shining her flashlight into its depths.

"Izzy!"

Isadora heard Duncan's shout echo around the tunnel. Then she heard them crawling along. She went and walked back to Beatrice. It was odd, she thought, how much she already cared for the small infant even though they hadn't even met properly. She stroked Beatrice's curly locks affectionately and sighed, wishing there was a way to wake her up. Isadora glanced at the Baudelaires, who were still fast asleep. She envied them slightly; she had been up all night, tired and worried about Duncan and Quigley, who had been gone ages, and looking after Bea. As the grumblings of her brothers got louder she picked Beatrice up and carried her towards the tunnel entrance carefully. "Hey, guys" she said as Duncan's head appeared. He smiled at her but his face was grim.

"What's wrong?" Isadora was dreading the reply. Quigley fell out of the opening after Duncan, waking up Sunny and Klaus. Violet slept on peacefully. Sunny got up and ran to Beatrice, taking her off Isadora she rushed, "Did she wake up? Is she alright? What's going on? Why does everyone look so worried?"

Isadora replied slowly, "Bea hasn't woken up Sunny. I'm sorry, at least she's still breathing..." Isadora bit her lip and looked at Sunny hopefully.

Sunny's lip quivered but she held it in, taking a deep breath she repeated her last question "_Why_ does everyone look so worried?"

Klaus reached the group, his glasses askew as Duncan glanced at Quigley hastily. Quigley looked at Sunny and answered her, "Hector..."

Isadora stopped him with a slight touch of the hand "We should wake up Violet."

Sunny ran over to her older sister and gently woke her. Quigley thought about what had happened, only twelve hours ago when he and Duncan had left.

_Quigley and Duncan rowed in silence, they were both thinking about what had happened to the Baudelaires. The boat bumped gently against the shore and Quigley tied it to an oddly shaped rock using one of Violet's knots. They slowly walked towards the town chatting about their time away from each other after the fire._

_They neared the hotel, nodding to the receptionist as they walked past, she gave them a strange look but they ignored it deciding to sprint up the stairs rather than take the lift._

_The door to their room was swinging slightly off its hinges, there was a huge dent in the middle and the lock had been broken. Quigley's heart skipped a beat. The brothers pushed open the door apprehensively. The room was completely trashed; the tables and chairs were upturned; the tacky curtains had been roughly ripped off their hooks; drawers had been emptied and the contents were scattered around; clothes lay in disarray on the floor and there was a pool of dark crimson liquid forming on the floor, spilling out of the bedroom..._

_Duncan looked at Quigley, he was scared, really scared. Bravely, Quigley stepped forward and tugged the door to the bedroom open._

_Duncan did a quick intake of breath "Oh my God..."_

_Quigley fell to the floor next to the wide eyed Hector, who lay still on the floor. Tears in his eyes, Quigley shut Hectors eyelids. Duncan stood in shock, "Who did this?" he whispered disbelievingly._

_"I can guess" Quigley muttered darkly, "but what are we gonna do with... with him..."_

_Duncan swallowed and looked at the body; "It's going to look really suspicious if we carry him downstairs past the receptionist..."_

_Quigley looked awkward, "But, we can't just leave him here"_

_Duncan nudged Quigley, he pointed to the en suite bathroom, the door was slightly ajar and there was a reflection of a blurred figure in the mirror..._

_Duncan and Quigley slowly backed out of the hotel room, their hearts pounding in their ears._

"Quigley?"

Quigley was jolted back into the present.

"Quigley, you were going to tell us what happened." Violet's eyes were wide with worry.

Quigley gulped, taking a deep breath he told the rest of the group what he and Duncan had seen in the hotel room. Duncan stayed silent.

Sunny sobbed silently into her sister and Violet closed her eyes as fat tears rolled down her thin face. Klaus hugged Isadora as Duncan and Quigley looked at each other quietly.

"What's going on?"

Beatrice had woken up...


	7. Chapter Six

**Chapter Six**

Beatrice wobbled uncertainly towards the stunned group. She was wearing a small and ragged brown dress that looked as though it may have endured more than one storm out at sea. It hung around her loose fittingly and made her look tiny. Her cheekbones jutted out of her cheeks alarmingly and her huge eyes were dark. Her dark hair was completely bedraggled and matted, sticking out at obscure angles. Her small heart shaped lips were puckered in annoyance; she had no clue what was going on and everyone was gaping at her stupidly.

Sunny was the first to recover, she rushed at Beatrice hugging her tightly, "I didn't think you would ever wake up!"

Violet soon joined in with the hug and Klaus broke away from Isadora to follow. Isadora grinned, "It's nice to meet you Beatrice."

Beatrice looked at the Quagmires from behind Violet warily. Violet smiled, "Bea, this is Isadora, Duncan and... Quigley Quagmire"

"Quagmire?" Bea stared in recognition and awe at the puzzled triplets.

"We've told her a lot about you guys" Klaus' cheeks were tinged with pink as he looked sheepishly at his friends.

Bea walked forward her arms reaching out towards Isadora who picked her up, stroking Bea's hair as she tried to straighten it out. Bea just smiled at the people around her, trying not to blink so she could memorise the triplets' faces.

"Let's go out and get some ingredients so we can have a delicious dinner to celebrate" Sunny looked excited.

"Yeah, you must be starving Bea" smiled Duncan at Bea who nodded fiercely before hopping out of Isadora's arms to run over to Violet. Isadora left with Klaus and Sunny (who were in disguise) to get the ingredients while Duncan tried to start a small fire with some dry moss and twigs. Violet sat quietly with Beatrice. She was the happiest she'd been in months.

That night the friends forgot that they were in a tiny cave with only three blankets to be shared between seven; half of them were on the run from the government and that everyone in their lives was slowly being killed off. They just chatted and enjoyed the summery salad that Sunny had made with smoked fish. As it got later they told stories of days before they even knew about Count Olaf and VFD while crunching on Sunny's experimental coconut cream biscuits. Bea listened intently, she loved the stories her guardians told. The group had no idea that they were being watched, very closely by someone I'd rather not think about... I have to stop typing: the man who has just walked into my cramped flat is now pointing an extremely pointy umbrella at me...


	8. Chapter Seven

**Thanks for reviews again! I love it when I get them! I really didn't think I'd get _any_ so thanks so much!**

**I know that last chapter was really short (they seemed to get shorter and shorter?) and I am really sorry, I'm glad you like the last line though! ;)**

**This chapter has been a lot of trouble (there were loads of problems with uploading, etc) so I really hope you like it...**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Seven<strong>

"Well we've got to do _something_; we can't stay in a damp old cave our whole lives!"

Beatrice sighed; Quigley, Klaus and Duncan had been fighting the same argument for 3 days now. She was tired of it.

"Stop!" she growled at them angrily.

Violet smiled as the boys all looked startled. She was fed up too, at first her, Isadora and Sunny had joined in but now the boys were just repeating what had already been said. Violet knew what was going to happen anyway – it was obvious that they weren't going to stay in the cave for much longer. It wasn't that they were uncomfortable; she'd been in situations which were definitely more testing. At least it doesn't have ghastly wallpaper; she couldn't help thinking when they had first arrived. No, it was because she just wanted something to do. She was bored, the excitement she used to have in her life had evaporated, died with Count Olaf. She couldn't help but miss the adventure even if they had been the most dangerous experiences of her life. She knew the others felt the same way,

Isadora looked over at Violet watching her smile at the looks on the faces of their siblings. Isadora knew she had to take charge, no one could agree on anything. Even last night they had had an argument on whether to have marinated chicken or a new recipe of Sunny's that included spinach, feta cheese and filo pastry. She stood up and marched over to the boys who had continued their argument but in hushed voices. She pulled her brothers up to their feet and signalled Klaus to stand up too. "Come on" she glared at all of them fiercely, "Pack. We're leaving"

A few heated discussions later, that I don't think are worth being called arguments, they had all managed to cram themselves into the seemingly smaller than before boat. Sunny was very angry at having to sit on Violet's lap, insisting fervently that she could easily squeeze into the non-existent gap between Klaus and Isadora. Beatrice looked at her guardian from the lap of Duncan who she had taken a shine to. She was happy that it wasn't just her who threw tantrums. "Isadora," Quigley asked hesitantly, she had been extremely tetchy recently, "Are you sure you've thought this through? You do know where we're going right?"

Isadora was ready to have a complete go at him for his lack of faith in her judgement but Violet got there first, "Quigley! All you've done since we've met up is moan and moan and moan; I am getting sick of it! Even if Isadora has no clue where we're going – and I'm sure she does anyway – it wouldn't matter because we just need to get out before we all kill each other! Is that really too hard for you to understand? Fucking hell! I thought I liked you but now I realise you are just a little kid, you have no idea what we've been through you skated around all the difficult parts, following _anyone_ else. You're pathetic. "

The others looked at her lost for words at Violets sudden outburst. Quigley, however, just looked angry, "That's unfair, I have had as much as a hard time as you at least you've had your siblings to support you! And I have _not _'moaned and moaned and moaned' and I'm getting sick of _you_, Violet, why have you ignored me this whole time we've spent together? And now you have a go at me – which is still completely out of order by the way – for me asking a small question that wasn't even directed at you!"

Klaus shifted uneasily and glanced at Isadora who looked just as uncomfortable, everyone looked at Violet with baited breath not knowing how she would react.

She looked at him, her eyes were blazing before she spoke she made a small involuntary sound from the back of her throat that sounded a bit like a small kitten, she swept over it as if it had never happened, "Just don't speak to me," she hissed at him scarily.

The boat journey was in silence, Sunny, shortly after the outbreak, had jumped off Violet's lap and climbed onto Klaus instead, it was obvious she had been uncomfortable like the others. The argument had scared her – she had never seen her sister like that before.

Violet seemed to realise that what she'd been like previously had frightened her friends. She leaned quietly over the edge of the boat and looked into the watery depths below. It was murky and she couldn't see much but a dark shape directly underneath them but she didn't pay it much attention. Her thoughts were for Quigley only. What had possessed her yell at him like that? As she looked down as the waves lapped the edges of the boat a small tear slid down her cheek, she brushed it away quickly – she did not want anyone to know that the argument had affected her more than she had let on. She felt like something was tearing inside her, she darted her eyes towards Quigley who looked on the verge of tears too. It hurt her to realise her empty words had caused him pain too.

Quigley was fuming, how dare she? After all they had been through together to suddenly turn on him like that. Well at least he knew what she thought of him. He was trying to trick himself into believing he didn't care but it was impossible. What was worse was he didn't even know what he'd done wrong, not really. She couldn't have been that angry over one question and he had definitely not been moaning – that much. And now there was that awkward silence that arguments tended to leave behind after they had gone. The others had not said a word and it didn't look like any of them were about to. What if they never made up? What if the group was torn apart? Quigley found himself wondering who would take his side and who would take Violets. These thoughts worried him, to distract himself he looked over at Violet who was staring at the blue-green water. He looked down too. He saw the same dark shape Violet had seen but he was more worried about it. It seemed to follow them as they neared the beach, always keeping a little bit behind... Suddenly, there was a break in the water and Quigley leapt backwards as a small robot-like arm reached out from the depths. It snaked its way towards him and stopped right in front of his face, inches from his nose, before moving towards Sunny, then Klaus. Everyone was still silent; no one had any idea what to do. It had reached Beatrice now but was taking longer to move on. More robot arms rose out of the water as if a signal had been sent they all snaked their way again but this time directly towards Beatrice who looked pale. No one expected what happened next: all the robot hands gripped the small girl tightly and lifted her into the air. Duncan looked horrified, there was a pause before he stood abruptly and tried to grab her back again but she was rising rapidly, it was too late he couldn't reach. Bea began to squirm and wriggle before crying out, "Please! Help!"

Violet looked up at her adopted daughter, her brain whirred frantically but she couldn't think of anything to help get Bea down, Quigley kept popping into her head interfering with the gears and levers. She stood up too and as she did so the boat began to wobble, she and Duncan wobbled with it trying to balance. Violet had never been very good at balancing. When she was younger, her mother had put in for acting classes. This including learning how to dance with the first lesson on balancing. The class ended with Violet being kicked out, and not allowed to return. Cringing, Violet remembered how disappointed her mother had been as she lost her footing, tumbling into the icy sea making the boat capsize with everyone still in it. Beatrice was screaming now as she was being lifted higher and higher, she'd never been up very high before as she'd lived most of her life on an island. She watched as her guardians scrambled to get the boat the right way around again so they could get back in. She kicked her short legs at the steel ropes and suddenly they pulled her down at an alarming speed. She tried to scream but the wind stole her breath as she hit the surface with a loud splash. The arms carried on pulling as her friends tried to swim down towards her. But one by one they couldn't take it any more as they ran out of breath. Quigley persisted determinedly but the robot arms were much too fast. He gave Beatrice a despairing look before pushing himself towards the others. As he broke the surface, he passed out with not enough air, Duncan and Klaus grabbed him before he started sinking downwards then hoisted him into the boat. Violet and Sunny were crying, after the trauma of not having Beatrice wake up for weeks, this was too much for them to bear.

* * *

><p><strong>R&amp;R, please? ;)<strong>


	9. Chapter Eight

Sorry, I know it took FOREVER. but it's here so please enjoy... oh and thanks for the reviews! It really makes me happy :) so carry on reviewing! Please? Thank you!

**Chapter Eight**

Violet woke up in a dark room on a lumpy mattress. She sat up quickly her first thoughts of Beatrice only, glancing around at her damp surroundings she stumbled towards a rusted, metal door. Grabbing the handle she rattled it with growing desperation but it was locked, "Quigley!" she yelled at the door, "Quigley! Klaus! Sunny?"

She fell down onto the mattress, her whole body racked with sobs. She was scared; she didn't know where she was or how she got there; Bea was gone and so were her friends; she was trapped in a dark, smelly room and there was nothing she could do... she sat up slowly. Maybe there _was_ something she could do. She looked carefully at her surroundings. She used her sharp nails to rip open the mattress looking for springs.

There was a slow, drawn out creak from behind her. "Violet?"

Sunny looked worried. "Violet, stop it. Stop ruining our last mattress!"

Her younger sister walked cautiously over to where Violet had now ceased tearing. Violet felt a gentle but wary hand on her shoulder. "Vi, calm down...can you hear me?" at Violets nod she continued, "You- you haven't been very well... at all. You attacked- you attacked Duncan and..."

As Sunny continued Violet noticed a dark bruise on her sister's left cheek, she couldn't remember anything but knew immediately that she had caused the large, purple bruise. "We had to lock- lock you up b-b-because they said you were a danger to people around you"

Violet could tell it was hard for Sunny, it seemed as though she was trying to be strong; Violet almost smiled at the thought of her baby sister being motherly but remembered Bea and caught herself, "Beatrice"

Tears welled in Sunny's large round eyes, "We've had no leads"

At Violets confusion she continued, "We've joined up with a group of people who used to be part of VFD, they're like detectives"

A day later and Violet was still unsure of the new, strange people that her friends and siblings so easily and willingly trusted. Those who knew Violet well noticed this, how uncomfortable she was but they didn't say anything to her, they were just focusing all their attention on Beatrice.

That morning Klaus, Duncan and Isadora were following three separate mysterious persons that each were linked to what happened in the bay.

Sunny was preparing a big lunch for them when they got back. Violet had decided to go exploring; she hadn't really had a chance process anything that anyone had said to her in the past 24 hours so she wanted some peace to think everything over. She walked slowly out of her new room (it was considerably larger than the one she had woken up in and decorated subtly but she still wasn't keen on the beiges, creams and dusky pinks) she tied hair up in a new, green ribbon as she dawdled down a long corridor with lots of intriguing and conspicuous looking doors. "Hey..."

Violet paused, she knew exactly who it was but she wasn't sure if she was ready to deal with Quigley yet. She carried on walking this time her head held a little higher. "Violet! Listen..."

"I don't want to speak to you right now Quig."

"Hey! There _are _two of us here! You don't think about how I feel, it's all about-"

"Quig, please can we not do this here" Violet still hadn't turned around.

"Then when are we gonna talk? When are we gonna sort this out? See, you're not even looking at me! Violet!"

Violet was about to turn around and tell Quigley why she wasn't ready when she heard someone approach from behind him.

"She said she didn't want to talk to you" said a deep voice.

A young man placed a hand on Quigley's shoulder and an unspoken threat hung in the air. Quigley shot a look at Violet before he shook his shoulder roughly from the man's grip and stormed off. Violet looked at the man, his face held no emotion. "I could've handled that" she was annoyed that some guy had just butted into her and Quigley's conversation.

The man laughed, "It didn't seem like it, that's all."

He turned to leave, "Wait!" Violet had no idea what she was going to say, "Err... thanks..."

He grinned and strode away leaving Violet confused and annoyed.


	10. Chapter Nine

**Hey Guys, see I've updated quickly this time! Hope you like this one... ;)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Nine<strong>

Isadora had just got back from some serious spy work. She giggled at that thought. The thought of her being a spy! Seriously! When she was little she never pretended to be the princess or the fairy. She was the spy. And now she was a spy, sort of...

_Her_ trail had led her to a small health shop on the outskirts of town; she had waited outside for an hour and a half before realising that no one would spend an hour and a half in a health food shop. Unless maybe you were tied up in the storage room by a certain traitorous friend with only a bag of carrot sticks and a used toothbrush. Anyway, she decided to take a look in the shop realising that there must have been a back entrance and now there was no way of catching up to the suspicious man she was tailing. There were tall shelves up to the ceiling, and stacks of various health products like cucumber and lychee hand cream or carrot, mint and apple scented soap. The aroma in the small, cramped shop was overwhelming and Isadora felt dizzy. As she approached the counter she saw a door, hidden by an array of different sized toothpicks. There was no one around so she had opened it cautiously. There was an ancient, creaking chair in the middle of an empty room. Left on the chair there was a lone carrot stick and an old toothbrush lay on the floor, Isadora picked up the toothbrush gingerly and placed it into a plastic bag the ex VFD members had given her. She thought maybe the DNA on it could trace back to a suspicious person. There was nothing else in the room, the walls were empty and the floor was bare Isadora gave the small room a fleeting look before leaving. "What were you doing in there!"

Isadora jumped, "Err, I was just wondering if... there was... what I... if I could buy... this!" she grabbed a can of mixed lentils and the display crashed to the floor. The man glared at her angrily. She smiled, "On second thoughts... I don't really need lentils right now... sorry... bye!"

Isadora had darted out of the shop and ran off down the road.

She giggled again – a spy!

"Izzy? What are you laughing about?"

Isadora turned around to see Klaus smirking behind her, "I..." she grinned sheepishly.

He shook his head laughing, "Come on let's get lunch, apparently Sunny was going to make something big and I'm starving."

He put his arm around her shoulders and she suddenly noticed how much taller he was since Prufrock Prep; he guided her towards the door that led to a kitchen and dining room. She blushed at his touch wondering what suddenly made him so bold...

"Hey guys!" Sunny was standing on a stool stirring a steaming pot. Klaus withdrew his arm quickly, realising what he had just done, he blushed like Isadora who just grinned at him happily.

"What's up with you two?" Sunny looked at them carefully.

They just laughed asking what was for lunch as Sunny mumbled something about no one taking her seriously.

The door smashed open just as they had sat down and Quigley strode in looking completely pissed off. "Whoa! Calm down! What's up?"

Isadora frowned at her usually calmer brother, "...it's Violet isn't it?"

Quigley answered by throwing a chair aside to storm across the room looking out the small window. Isadora looked at Klaus quickly, they both suppressed a smile – angry Quigley was surprisingly funny. "She...him...unfair...pushy...ugh!"

He Quigley let out another longer string of incoherent words stream from his mouth as if he had no control of his voice. "We know," Isadora nodded wisely, "she'll come around"

Klaus joined in with the nodding and so did Sunny. Quigley looked at them silently, "you look like chickens" he stated before walking calmly out.

Duncan was tired, he'd lost his trail pretty quickly but then he never was that good at spying. When they were younger he and Quigley had tried to spy on Isadora playing with her dolls in her room. Quigley had ended up with a nosebleed and Duncan had a black eye for the rest of the week; they hadn't been very quiet. As he walked down the corridor his stomach growled. He picked up his pace but just as he rounded the corner he ran into Violet. "Hey Vi! Hey... are you alright?"

He looked into her eyes they were all red and blotchy. "Have you been crying?"

"...No," she managed to choke out.

"It's alright..."

"I'm fine!" Violet snapped at him angrily, "Just leave me alone... please?

"OK, if you're sure you're alright..." Duncan faltered under her glare, clumsily patted her on the shoulder and carried on down the corridor.

He looked behind at her every so often, he was worried about her. He hated seeing cry, she used to never let herself go but now... since Beatrice...

But he couldn't blame Bea and he couldn't blame Violet for worrying about Bea. Duncan didn't realise that it wasn't Bea who Violet had been crying about.

It was 11:36 and Violet hadn't eaten all day, she left her room and made her way down to the kitchen. There was still some soup left from lunch so she heated it up on the stove and scooped it into a little bowl before heading back to her room. "Hey,"

It was the guy from earlier. "Hi" she replied cautiously.

"You're sister's a really good cook"

Violet nodded in agreement as the man edged nearer.

"I've heard a lot about you and your siblings; you've been through a lot..."

He was really close now, Violet felt uncomfortable she was about to take a step backwards when he grabbed her shoulder. She thought of her room and the soup trembling in her hands, would she ever get to eat it? She shrank away from his touch involuntarily but he didn't seem to notice, he was looking at her hungrily, "You're very pretty"

Then he tried to go in for a kiss... "Get off me! Help! Someone! Get off!"

Violet screamed, she kicked and struggled with him. "What's your problem?" he snarled at her, "I guess you're too damaged already"

He stormed off leaving Violet, for the second time that day, stunned.

"Violet? Were you shouting?"

Violet turned around to see a tired looking Quigley in an old t-shirt and boxers. She nodded at him cursing the tears in her eyes as they threatened to spill over. He looked at her carefully before sweeping her into a massive hug. She suddenly felt safe in his arms, like she belonged, "I'm sorry," she whispered.

"Me too... I've missed you"

She snuggled closer to him before pulling away, "Thanks Quig..."

He smiled at her and they walked back to their bedrooms together. Violet got a good sleep last night, she was still worried about Beatrice but she didn't feel as empty anymore.

* * *

><p><strong>Please review? I really want to know what you guys think. I've just looked through the chapter and <strong>**realised I've used '...' 22 times! Whoops...**

**I've decided I'm not going to update until I've got 9 reviews because that's how many proper chapters there are... that isn't too hard is it?**

**;)**


	11. Chapter Ten

**Hey guys! Sorry I haven't updated in a while, my laptop broke with all my chapters on it :( Still they fixed it quicker than I thought :D so here you go!**

**Oh, and thanks for the reviews ;)**

* * *

><p><strong>Chapter Ten<strong>

The door to the kitchen slammed open. Making them all jump. Klaus was standing in the doorway seething and squinting at them angrily. He had no glasses. "It took me half an hour to find the kitchen," he said through gritted teeth, "I walked in on several important looking meetings" he glared, "Who leaves a broken soup bowl in the middle of a corridor!"

Violet widened her eyes conspicuously. Klaus could only see a Violet shaped blur and didn't notice, the others did though, and they gave her confused looks but stayed silent. "I slipped in the cold soup and broke my glasses _and_ cut my hand!" he was shouting now.

"Calm down Klaus..." Isadora said slowly.

"Yeah, I'm sure who ever left it there didn't mean to" Sunny looked meaningfully at Violet.

"Sorry Klaus, it was my-"

Violet was cut off by Quigley who had just run into the kitchen, "We know where Beatrice is!"

* * *

><p>Isadora was wearing an old diving suit that was slightly too big; she had to roll the sleeves up so she could see her fingers. Next to her Sunny was wearing some denim dungarees she had found that were just her size. Isadora scowled in her helmet, Sunny was so lucky! None of the diving suits even began to fit her so she didn't have to go. Isadora felt bad about thinking that, she really wanted to find Beatrice. She and Violet looked at each other. Violet was taller than she was so her suit fitted better, at least Duncan looked as ridiculous as she did. The three of them hugged their friends and siblings and some of the members of the organisation whom they had grown close to.<p>

"Good luck!" Someone shouted from the back of the small crowd gathered on Precarious Pier. This was followed by a series of other cries of well wishing. Quigley blocked them out, all he could think of was that he may lose his siblings all over again. And then Violet. He still didn't really know where he stood with her, were they just friends after everything?

So when they were saying goodbye to him he couldn't look any of them in the eye. "Bye" was all he mumble unlike Sunny who was gushing about how happy she was that she would be seeing Beatrice again. Quigley looked at her disdainfully, after all her misfortune how could she be so optimistic? It annoyed him and he didn't even know why.

* * *

><p>Duncan jumped. The icy water closed in on him as he allowed himself to be dragged deeper and deeper. He felt a tug at his waist and the rope that was attaching him and Violet was yanked. He quickly swam, following the rope and fumbling with his fingers. Then he saw to figures in the darkness, Izzy and Vi. He thrashed in the water, trying to reach the girls. He was so intent in reaching them so they could carry out 'phase two' that he didn't notice the rope coming undone and slipping off...<p>

As he approached the figures they started to look less and less like Isadora and Violet. Now he was close enough to see the figures had their backs turned. They were muscular and manlike. He knew his only chance was to swim away now, as fast as possible. They didn't look like they'd be very friendly... He paddled backwards frantically, trying to make as little noise as possible. He was far enough away that they returned to dark blurry shapes. He sighed in relief. Suddenly, he felt something wrap around his left wrist then his right and his ankles. It was the wires that had snatched Bea from the boat. He struggled in the water, thinking of the rope he looked down (with difficulty because of the heavy helmet) and saw it was gone. Violet hadn't tied him and her together, someone else had, and they hadn't used a very secure knot. But what could he do now? It was too late to blame and point the finger. He was being dragged towards... towards... He had no idea where he was going maybe at least he'd see Beatrice. If she wasn't dead...

He mentally kicked himself; the thought of Bea's body on the floor, motionless was more than he could bear.

He squeezed his eyes closed just as he was swept towards a looming dark shape. He was whacked against the side with such force that his diving helmet cracked open, he felt the water pushing against his face and tried to breathe. He ended up opening and closing his mouth, the salty water made him gag. He was running out of air fast, he tried to kick up towards the surface but he knew he was too deep to reach it in time and the robot arms were still trying to pull him round the dark rock. They bashed him against it again and again, he felt dizzy with lack of air and then he realised that this was it... and then the rock opened...


	12. Chapter Eleven

**Chapter Eleven **

Isadora peered through the mesh of her diving helmet, Violet was beside her treading water, the rope that attached the two of them was so long they couldn't see the end of the loop that hung between them. On the other side of Violet there was another rope that floated off into the distance. Where was Duncan? He was supposed to follow the rope and meet them underwater. Isadora could tell Violet was panicking too because she waved frantically in front of Isadora's face then beckoned her to follow; they swam along the rope that attached Violet to Duncan. It wasn't long before Violet yanked it in frustration, the rope was easily pulled so the two girls reeled Duncan towards them, well, that's what they thought they were doing. Soon enough the rope came to an end. "He's gone..."

Darkness enclosed around him and he found he could breathe again. He gasped in lung full's of air. He didn't care where he was (he should've), he didn't care that he couldn't see anything around him (he should've), all that mattered to him was the he was alive (he would've been luckier if he were dead, but then again he wasn't very lucky.)

He realised he was lying on a stone cold floor, he stood up dizzily and stumbled forwards, he felt something prick his now exposed neck and his eyes started to droop.

Meanwhile, Violet and Isadora were in hysterics; they couldn't understand why the rope was undone. Finally, Violet signalled to Isadora that they should continue with phase two. Isadora agreed reluctantly, it felt like losing Quigley all over again. Violet pressed a small button on a watch she'd been working on. After a few moments a beep sounded from it and a miniscule arrow appeared. They quickly swam off in the direction hoping that Violet's new invention worked and that Duncan was safe.

Duncan woke up in a tiny cell to the sound of an old cat being whacked against a wall repeatedly in the distance; well that's what I'm told it sounded like. He stretched his arms to the side of him to realise that the cell was so small he could touch either wall to the side of him.

Soft and faint footsteps drew nearer and Duncan pressed his face against the bars of his small prison, he was looking for a chance to escape – of course none would come. As they came closer Duncan managed to work out the sound of a pair of soft leather soled shoes and two bare footed people. Joining the light footing he heard a faint, drip, drip, drip. He shook the bars trying to see round the corner. He first saw a bare foot, it was dripping water and had seaweed wrapped around its ankle, there was sand between its toes. It made contact with the cold, metal floor with a smack and from around the corner a dark haired girl hung her head. She lifted it up but Duncan knew already he would see his own face mirrored on hers, it was Isadora. She looked terrible; her hair was bedraggled and she had seaweed sticking everywhere, she had a red mark across her cheek and where she stood a puddle was forming. Duncan then knew who would come round the corner next, Violet dragged her bare feet across the floor, her hands, unlike Isadora's were tied behind her back. She tripped towards Isadora as a bony hand shoved her roughly. A man that Duncan did not recognise then came into view, his hair was grey and greasy and his eyes were hollow and cold, he grinned as Violet tripped showing yellowing and cracked teeth. He continued to push the two girls past Duncan's cage, Violet didn't even look up but Isadora saw him. She opened her mouth but no sound came out and she was shoved forwards. Duncan slumped to the floor of his cell, he gave up – what could he possibly do now? The screeching of the cat from earlier suddenly got louder and a girl with red corkscrew curls skipped around the corner screaming at the top of her voice, she stopped when she saw Duncan lying on the floor behind bars, she grinned nastily, "Who's the cakesniffer now?"

"Carmelita!" Thank goodness it was _you _singing, I thought someone was brutally murdering a cat!"

The girl's grin stayed on her face for a split second as she struggled to work out what Duncan had just said before it slipped off her face, her eyes grew angry and her hands shook, "I could get things to happen to you that you couldn't even dream of!" she hissed.

"Heard it all before" Duncan waved her off, trying not to show weakness.

"That's it! I was being really nice to you cakesniffing orphans, you know I actually liked you! Now I'm gonna be really difficult!" and she marched off her curls bouncing at her shoulders.

Duncan wasn't sure whether or not to laugh, "She can't have actually liked us" he thought.

Quigley glanced at the clock on the wall, Isadora, Duncan and Violet's oxygen supply was due to run out in eight minutes. If the plan had gone accordingly, phase 12 was taking place and they were to arrive at Precarious Pier in three minutes, Sunny and Klaus were waiting at the pier for them. Quigley, however, had offered to stay and look out for enemies at the base which he was now regretting. He tapped on the table top anxiously and started humming a tune his mother used to sing when the triplets were younger. "Well, young lady, have you been good to your mother?"

A man with a grey moustache that turned up at the ends had just entered the room. Quigley stared at the man, was he an enemy or not? "The world is quiet here?" he offered hesitantly.

The man looked at him, confused, "Are you in training?"

Quigley was sure the man was speaking in code to him but he didn't know what to say at all, in the end he went for, "Yes?"

"Oh, well in that case 'I didn't realise this was a sad occasion' is replied with 'the world is quiet here' and 'well, young lady, have you been good to your mother?' is replied with 'the question is, has she been good to me?' Clear?"

Quigley nodded at the man speechless.

"Good, now I've been told to give you this, you've learnt about codes right?"

Quigley nodded again as he took the brown envelope from the old man.

The man nodded back at Quigley once before briskly leaving the room, Quigley looked down at the envelope in his hands, he opened it and looked down at a script, "...WAIT! Wait! I don't know this..."

It was too late, the man had left. Quigley looked down at the script; he was going to have to work it out himself.

(_Phone rings and a man answers_)

Electric company: Your electric bill is due today. You must pay or your siblings will.

Mathew: Is that a threat?

Electric company: We've called the wrong number and threatened the wrong person, sorry.

(_Hangs up_)

Mathew: Sorry? I hope so! I'm violet with rage! I will leave the house for a bit.

(_Woman approaches_)

Esme: Are you alright? Your face is violet why don't you come in my lovely house and cool down so you aren't a danger to the public.

(_they enter a house_)

Esme: Take a biscuit!

Mathew: No...

Esme: Don't be silly! They won't bite!

(_Mathew takes one but hides it in his pocket_)

Esme: I like your tie...anyway, tell me, who are you?

Mathew: Thank you it's my favourite tie, it is very in right now!

Esme: Yes, yes but you didn't tell me who you were... a fireman perhaps?

Mathew: (_Laughing_) No! Of course not! I write speeches for big important people...

Esme: Oh... get out! (_Pushes him out_)

Mathew: What! (_turns violet again and throws a stone at Esme's house)_

Esme: Did you throw a rock at my house?

_(Mathew runs away)_

Mathew: I still have that biscuit. What is on it? It is covered in ants! That evil woman is definitely the most horrible person ever! Two things I'm scared of – the sea and ants.

(_Esme steps out of a car that has just pulled up and pushes Mathew over)_

Esme: Ha, ha, ha! Now you are on the floor! You shouldn't throw rocks, it's dangerous! (_she picks him up and throws him off the cliff and into the sea)_

Esme: Now away I must hurry!

_(Church bells ring in the distance as she drives off)_


	13. Chapter Twelve

Hellooooooo! Sorry it's been sooo long and thank you for the reviews! This chapter isn't very long :s but I'll try and get another one up soon ;)

* * *

><p>Sunny sat on the edge of the pier, her legs dangling over the water. Her brother stood behind her looking out to sea, wondering if they were going to come back in time. Sunny was confident they would. None of the orphans were very lucky but they always managed to come out unscathed and alright. She had been thinking about something one of her new friends had said to her after breakfast a few mornings ago. He had offered Sunny her own radio show to talk about new recipes and flavours, Sunny had turned him down, still worried about Beatrice but now Bea was being rescued. Sunny couldn't help but dream about telling people all her ideas, having her own radio show sounded wonderful.<p>

While she waited she began to think up new recipes to talk about to her listeners and the guests she could have on her show, playing it all out in her head. She grinned to herself and thought about what Violet and Bea and all the others would say.

* * *

><p>Quigley knew what he had to do. He had finally managed to work out the code and it had said, "Your siblings and Violet are in danger. They are in a big rock on the sea floor. Hurry."<p>

So he hurried, all the way to the pier in a diving suit slightly too big for him. He stood breathlessly on the edge of the pier next to Sunny, "Quigley? Are you alright?"

Quigley managed to choke out a reply to Sunny and Klaus, "They're not coming back... unless we save them"

And then he dived into the sea.

* * *

><p>Violet stood in her and Isadora's cell. She was still dripping wet but the steady drip didn't annoy her. It made her feel sane, that there was still a steadiness in her life. Isadora was curled up the corner; Violet couldn't tell if she was awake or just lamenting over the failed plan and the day's events. Violet knew she couldn't sleep, she was a terrible guardian. She had accused so many of being just that but had never realised how hard it actually was. Violet thought of Beatrice locked up in another cell somewhere and felt guilt and pain wash over her. Bea was probably scared and frightened and alone.<p>

Violet rested her hand on the bars gently, her fingers curled around the solid metal and she closed her eyes. "Violet!" a hushed voice whispered barely a breath away from Violets face. She jerked open her eyes to see Beatrice huddled in Quigley's arms grinning happily at her savoir.

"H, how?" was all Violet could stutter as Quigley put Bea down and started to pick the lock"

"Perspicacious!" beamed Beatrice from the floor which I'm told probably meant something along the lines of, "Because Quigley's so intelligent!"

The door swung open with a click and Isadora woke up abruptly to see Quigley and Violet smiling at each other whilst Beatrice smiled up at them both from the floor and Isadora smiled at all three of them and they all smiled as they realised all was not completely lost...

"Duncan's here! He's in one of the rooms! We need to go get him!" Isadora jumped up and pulled Violet out of the cell.

"You two take Beatrice and get out of here, I'll go get him" Quigley said picking up Bea and swiftly handing her to Violet. "No. We can't split up. We'll all go and get Duncan" Isadora said firmly.

Quigley looked at his sister exasperatedly, "We don't have much time! Okay, look, if we all go and we all get caught we'll all be imprisoned, if I go and get caught at least-" Quigley faltered, "At least you'll all be safe"

Before they could argue back Quigley ran off down the corridor. Immediately Isadora ran after him shouting, "You don't know where his cell is!"

Violet was left standing there alone in the corridor with a smiling Beatrice in her arms playing with her dark hair. Violet knew she had to get Bea safe, and then she could come back for the others. So she hoisted Bea onto her back and started to make her way towards a section of the 'rock' she and Isadora had been led past before containing small 'pods' that looked like miniature submarines. Luckily the two orphans didn't meet anyone on the way, they found the place quickly, it was teeming with men and women wearing black suits and sunglasses, each of them carried a harpoon gun. Seeing the guns made Violet think about memories she had pushed to the back of her head, they resurfaced like bobbing horseradish infused apples. Violet felt tears running down her cheeks, she sniffed before crouching down just outside the door and took Beatrice off her back, "Are you ready Bea?" she said shakily, "Because I've got a plan..."


	14. Chapter Thirteen

Helloooo! Thank you sooo much for reviewing :D It makes me so happy that you like it! There's only a few chapters left now! Anyway, enjoy...

* * *

><p>Violet looked at her reflection on the smooth, polished wall. Not much had changed about her appearance except she now wore a name card that read 'Miss Geraldine Julienne'.<p>

She looked over at Bea who was sitting on the floor contentedly with another name card that read 'Miss Eleanora Poe'. Violet hoped silently that her plan would work, Count Olaf had used a similar technique in disguise at Lucky Smells Lumber Mill with his name plate, but, he also had a wig and a phony accent which were, unfortunately, inaccessible to Violet. Still, she'd found some safety pins, some card and a blue felt tip pen. Once I found myself trapped in a basement with these very three things, sadly for me I do not have Violet Baudelaire's initiative and was only able to make a crude hat. Luckily, a hat was the thing I needed to make my escape but that story doesn't have a happy ending either so I shall not tell it. Violet carried Beatrice back to the room with the submarine pods. She strode in confidently and said to the nearest man with sunglasses, "I am Geraldine Julienne, Head Reporter for The Daily Punctilio, I require a... pod"

The man took off his sunglasses and eyed Violet suspiciously, "Oi! Bob! This girl says she's Geraldine Julienne!"

'Bob' jogged over with his harpoon gun pointed at them; he too eyed Violet suspiciously before saying to his colleague exasperatedly, "Well, obviously it's her! She's got a name tag and everything! Sorry for the inconvenience, you want a pod? Right this way..."

Violet smiled politely, "its fine," then just for good measure, she added, "I can see it now: Guards think Julienne is an Imposter, the readers will love that!"

They were escorted to a pod and given instructions on how to steer to land, "Thank you" Violet said quickly to Bob before getting into the pod with Beatrice. A machine pushed them forwards as a valve appeared in the side of the rock. "STOP!"

Someone screamed from behind, Violet and Bea looked out a window to see Esmé Squalor running towards the pod. She was wearing a black suit and sunglasses like the rest of the guards but her boots were bright vermillion and she had matching gloves on with claw like nails at the end of each finger, "THAT WAS A BAUDELAIRE YOU IDIOTS! CLOSE THE VALVE! CLOSE THE VALVE!"

It's not often Violet Baudelaire is _really _lucky but in those few seconds she was or maybe it was Beatrice's luck that saved them. It doesn't really matter; all that matters is that the two orphans managed to get their pod through the valve before it closed. They could still hear Esmé screaming as they steered the mini submarine far away. "I wonder if the Quagmire triplets managed to escape too" Violet whispered to Beatrice.

"No worries" Smile Bea which probably meant something like, "They're very clever, intelligent people, they'll probably find a way out of that weird rock thing, we don't need to worry about them"

Violet nodded at Bea and the two girls huddled closer together as the submarine started to make its way upwards.

* * *

><p>Sunny stood precariously on Precarious Pier; this is a phrase that means an orphan was upright and close to falling off a badly built dangerous pier. The orphan was searching the thrashing waves for some sign that her family and friends were safe. She had been waiting through most of the night and now was extremely tired as she didn't often stay up past her bedtime. Every so often she would wobble and there would be a moment of terror in which her arms would flail about her and her brain would freeze. She would then right herself and continue to scan the waves. Sunny couldn't believe that just hours ago she'd been thinking of having her own radio show. How could she have been so selfish? Thinking of herself and not poor Beatrice and Violet and Duncan and Isadora who had all risked their lives whilst she sat happily dreaming about her future. What was her future without them anyway? Sunny berated herself harshly and thought of what Bea, Violet and the triplets were going through. Her brother was sitting a distance away with his back to the sea and his head in his hands. When I was younger I grew up by a beach. It was a gorgeous beach. My brother and I used go down when the tide was in and swim in the freezing water (we didn't mind the cold) and then, whilst I collected shells on the shore my brother would paint the scene from the dunes. Our mother used to always warn us never to turn our backs on the sea, I never have. My brother did. Once. It was the last thing he ever did...<p> 


	15. Chapter Fourteen

**Hello! Hope you all had a good Christmas! Sorry again for not updating very fast :s but thanks for reading and following and reviewing, I'll try and update quicker next time :)**

* * *

><p>Klaus, with his back to the sea, was unaware when the small pod that bobbed up suddenly from the waves. Sunny was though. She shrieked, losing her balance for the umpteenth time (a term used here meaning Sunny had lost her balance on Precarious Pier many times before and it's really difficult to research that sort of thing but at a guess I'd say about the 34th time.) So...She shrieked, losing her balance for the 34th time at a rough guess. This 34th time was different however, her arms flailed and her brain froze but she did not regain her balance. She was sent plunging into the icy water mercilessly. At the splash, Klaus looked to the sea but it was in vain, I said before never to turn your back on the sea...<p>

* * *

><p>Meanwhile, the Quigley and Isadora had found Duncan. They were now all hiding in a small storage room wondering how to get out of the rock they were trapped in. "Someone's coming" whispered Isadora as the triplets heard a screeching sound from outside the door.<p>

"I'm a... beautiful Ninja-Optician-Unicorn-Wizard-Queen with amazingly gorgeous hair"

Isadora shared a look of disgust with her brothers, "I'd know that voice anywhere"

"...and I'm on a super-cool-awesome-interesting-exquisite-thrilling-fantasical-fabulous hunt to find some cakesniffing... QUAGMIRES!"

Carmelita threw open the door triumphantly grinning at the shocked siblings.

"Carmelita, please don't tell anyone we're here" pleaded Isadora.

"Why should I help you cakesniffers? You don't appreciate anything I've done for you!"

"Appreciate? You've done nothing but make our lives-" Isadora looked livid but Duncan touched her shoulder and widened his eyes at her, she frowned at him before taking a deep breath, "We _are_ sorry Carmelita... I hope you know that we are grateful for _all _that you've done for us, we know how _hard_ it must have been for you"

Carmelita looked at the triplet's faces sceptically, Isadora was just thinking that Carmelita didn't believe what she'd said when the red-headed girl smiled widely and said, "It feels so good to _finally_ be appreciated!"

"Will you help us get out of here then?" Quigley smiled expectantly.

"Of course not!" Laughed Carmelita, "You're still a bunch of cakesniffing orphans!" and then she winked at them and flounced off.

"What did the wink mean?" Duncan asked as he leaned out of the tiny room.

"It doesn't matter," Isadora said flatly, "hopefully she won't tell anyone about us. Now, we're going to have to think of a way out of here..."

* * *

><p>"Sunny!" Klaus cried, he ran to the edge of the pier and leaned over as far as he could but his little sister was just a struggling blur beneath the murky water. "Help! Someone help! Please..." Klaus looked around desperately.<p>

The little bobbing pod drifted towards the pier and Violet reached out and tied a rope to the nearest pillar, she then scooped up Beatrice and hopped lightly onto the boards.

"Violet! Sunny's... Sunny's... Sunny is-"

"Klaus, what's wrong? What's going on?"

"She's drowning"

"Why aren't you doing anything!?" Violet yelled as she put Bea down and ran to the edge with Klaus, "Is that her? That blurry shape?"

"Yeah," Klaus croaked hoarsely.

"Oh no..."

"What?" Klaus asked urgently.

"They must've sent pods after us when we escaped, because... they've got her."

Violet turned to Beatrice who had started crying, "Shh, Bea, it's going to be alright"

Bea sniffed and shook her head at Violet sadly, and then she pulled herself up with her little arms and toddled towards her carers. "Oh!" Violet whispered in surprise, "You're walking..."

Klaus got up and strode towards Bea, he picked her up and hugged her tightly, "Sunny is going to be so proud of you" he whispered.

* * *

><p>Duncan was running down one of the seemingly never-ending corridors, he'd managed to be separated from his siblings when they'd run into some of Esmé's guards. He carried on running, breathing heavily and when he thought he was safe, well as safe as he could be, he slowed down and walked down the corridor wondering what to do and how to find his brother and sister.<p>

"Stop right where you are."

Duncan froze.

Esmé walked up behind him and gripped his shoulder tightly, "Caught you" she whispered in a sing song voice and steered him up the corridor. Duncan wasn't sure what to do, should he try and over power her? Or wait until a better opportunity?

Better opportunities hardly ever come to unfortunate orphans. She shoved him into a huge bright room. It looked a bit like a court room with seats that surrounded an area in the middle. Every seat was filled with one of Esmé's guards and every harpoon gun was pointing towards three figures in the middle of the room. Duncan was pushed towards the figures and the light dimmed. It was Isadora, Quigley... and Sunny. They looked up at him sadly; he could almost see the hope drain from their faces by his presence. He didn't understand why or how Sunny was there but he knew better than to ask, instead he stood with them and took hold of Sunny and Isadora's hands.

So the four orphans stood in the middle of the room clutching each other's hands and waiting for misfortune to fall upon them once again.

Esmé circled around them once before addressing her 'henchmen', "Good morning, not all of you will know who these children are, you don't need to know much about them, all you need to know is they are dangerous and must be... well. That is what we are here to decide. What shall we do with them?" Esmé paused, "Personally, I think justice should be served..."

The cheers from the guards drowned out Sunny's cry, and the orphans huddled closer together.

"They should be punished!" Esmé shouted.

Her words were met by more cheering. Isadora closed her eyes; there was no way they could win.

"And they will be punished, take them to the back room" ordered Esmé.

The children were pushed through a small door to the back room; the room was small and grey and didn't have much in it at all. Esmé strode in minutes later, "Get the blind folds, we don't have all day" she said and two guards pulled out rags from their belts and tied them around each of the orphans. Quigley trembled, he had no idea what was going to happen but he heard a click of a harpoon gun and clenched his hands into fists. Then without warning, he was pulled roughly back out of the room and his blind fold was ripped off. Esmé stood in front of him; she grabbed his cheeks and stared at his face critically. "Yes this one will do"

She led him through to a small cell, "Welcome to your new home" Esmé smiled sweetly.

"What? What about my brother and sister, and Sunny?" Quigley asked her as she turned to leave.

"They've been taken care of" she said carefully.

"I don't want to be here! I want to be with them!" Quigley shouted angrily.

Esmé smiled, "Oh don't worry, you'll be with them as soon as you turn 18" and slammed she the door behind her.


	16. Chapter Fifteen

**Bonjour... I'm sorry its been a while... I honestly didn't think it was JANUARY when I last updated :s Sorry... Anyway thank you all SO much for the reviews! 31! That's so awesome and it makes me so happy... here you go!**

* * *

><p>Sunny opened her eyes. The blind fold was gone and she was in a room. A very bright room, a very bright white room. At first she thought maybe it was over, she'd died, but that wasn't right, she didn't <em>feel<em> dead. She sat up slowly, after realising she was laying down. And suddenly she was engulfed in a huge hug and her siblings were crying and kissing her cheeks and telling her how worried they were. She couldn't believe it for a second that everything was alright. It's an odd phrase, 'everything's alright' because, quite obviously, not everything _is _alright, someone will be suffering somewhere and often even the person who thinks it is lying to themselves or maybe just misjudging the situation.

Violet, Klaus and Beatrice clustered around her bed and told her what had happened. Carmelita had rescued her. The girl had said she wanted a personal cook and she wanted Sunny, so Esmé had let Sunny live. Then Carmelita had sent Sunny off in a pod with a note and claimed Sunny had escaped of her own accord.

"We owe her so much" Violet said softly.

"But where are the triplets?" Sunny asked.

"They still haven't got back yet," Klaus sighed, "Hopefully they're alright"

Sunny then had to explain what had happened in the courtroom and the 'back room.'

"You mean right now they could _all_ be-" Violet whispered horrified.

Sunny just looked at her sister tearfully. They all slept in the same bed that night and thought of the triplets as they cried themselves to sleep.

Quigley, however, could not sleep at all. He spent all his energy trying not to think of his siblings or Sunny, so much until he was exhausted, but he could not fall asleep. It was in the early hours of the morning when Carmelita walked past the cell. Quigley sat up and called her over. "What do you want?" she hissed.

"Are they-" Quigley's voice caught in his throat.

Carmelita looked at him, "Not yet, Sunny's safe but... well they are supposed to be- you know- in the morning"

"Sunny's safe?"

"I rescued her" Carmelita said with a smirk.

"Then you can rescue my brother and sister too!" Quigley stood up.

"No," Carmelita said softly, "I can't. _She _is going to get suspicious if I save all of them, I can't help you anymore"

Quigley felt the tears in his eyes threatening to spill so he said quickly as he hid his face, "Why did you help us in the first place?"

Carmelita smiled sadly at him, "Because I-"

A loud bang interrupted her and then the two children heard multiple footsteps getting closer, "I have to go" she whispered and she ran in the opposite direction.

Quigley lay on the cold floor of his cell and pretended to be asleep as three guards strode past and wondered how he could possibly save his siblings,

Duncan hugged Isadora tightly. They were in a cell identical to Quigley's not three walls away. Just before they were to be executed Carmelita had rushed in screaming about wanting a personal cook, Esmé had ushered her and Sunny away and never returned. So they were still in the same room with their blindfolds now discarded on the floor, clutching each other and wondering what had happened to Quigley and Sunny. Neither orphan spoke; there was nothing to say to make their situation any better. Isadora wanted to say, 'if only Violet was here, she'd invent a way out of here' and Duncan wanted to say, 'what if Klaus was here? He would know all about escaping from places.' But both Quagmires knew that "if only" and 'what ifs' never got anybody anywhere. So they stayed quiet and tried not to think much about anything...much.

It was a hard night for the seven orphans, all waiting for the morning to come and make everything better. The problem is you can never rely on the times of the day to sort things out, in the end it all comes down to what you're prepared to do. This thought occurred to Quigley at dawn (though he couldn't tell) and it was this thought that made him stand up and inspect his cell. He had a small plastic beaker, an empty plate, some chains attached to the wall and that was it. He gathered the cup and the plate to a corner of his prison and stared at them, his brain whirring furiously about what to do with the items he had. He looked down at what he was wearing; they had given him a damp dark grey jumpsuit made out of a thin flimsy material with two pockets, a thin belt made of the same material round his waist and Velcro that did up at the front. No zips or buttons to detach and use for... _something. _Velcro was hardly useful so Quigley turned his attention back to the plate and cup. No matter how hard he thought, or stared, the plate and cup remained sitting almost offensively in front of him. After a while he pulled the belt out from the loopholes and laid it by the cup. From down the corridor he heard footsteps and then a deep voice shout, "Wake up! Breakfast time! Might be the last meal you ever have!"

Quigley tried to peer round the bars to see the owner of the voice when another voice spoke out, one he very much recognised, "_Might _be the last meal we ever have? So you're saying there's a chance we _could_ escape?"

Quigley let a wide grin spread across his face, as Isadora's voice rang out down the corridor. The man was quiet for a second with the exception of a few gulping sounds, "No...No... You won't es-cape... None of them will let you... the whole system's fool proof...I-"

The man's stuttering was drowned out by Isadora's harsh laugh; Quigley recognised it at once as the one she used when she wanted to be condescending. "Just give us our '_last meal_'" she said wearily and after a moment Quigley heard the man coming towards him. In a flash decision he snatched up the belt and hid by the door of the cell out of sight. The guard knocked politely before opening the door, Quigley immediately jumped on him and pulled the belt tight around the man's neck, "let us all go, NOW!"

The man struggled for a moment before grabbing hold of the belt around his neck and tearing it apart before turning and grabbing Quigley by the shoulders and throwing him down onto the floor. Quigley stared up at him surprised and dizzy, "Just for that, no breakfast for you!"

Then the man lifted his foot and brought it down, hard, on Quigley's face and strode out of the cell, shoving Quigley's breakfast into his mouth as he slammed the door and walked away. Quigley lay on the hard floor of his cell and listened as his stomach gurgled indignantly. He put his hand up to his face and felt the hot wet sticky liquid that was running down his face before remembering about Duncan and Isadora and jolting upright. This made him feel extremely nauseated but he pushed through it and stood up shakily. "Isadora? Duncan?" he half whispered half shouted (which is actually quite hard to do) towards the direction of their cell.

After a moments silence there came a reply, "Quigley? Is- is that you?"

"Yeah! Yeah it's me; oh I'm so glad you're alive"

"Not for long" he heard Isadora say, "What about you"

Quigley swallowed down the lump in his throat, "I'm staying here until I turn eighteen"

He heard his sister laugh bitterly, "I can't decide whose fate is worse"

Then the triplets were quieted by a loud yell, "Fetch them, I'm ready!"

Footsteps echoed around the corridor getting closer and closer...

"Goodbye..."

* * *

><p><strong>Is that a bit too dramatic?<strong>


	17. Chapter Sixteen

**Hey, it's not long now to the end (I think) only a couple more chapters at the most... (I know it's been a while but hope you like it anyway :)**

* * *

><p>Violet opened her eyes blearily, Klaus, Sunny and Bea lay snoring quietly besides her looking untroubled and at peace. Violet gently sat up and slipped out of the crowded bed and was just thinking about waking Klaus when an alarm started screaming throughout the room. Almost simultaneously the three orphans in the bed sat up, Violet stared at them wide eyed as Beatrice asked quietly, "Fire?"<p>

The next few moments were a blur, Violet and Klaus scooped up the two younger orphans (despite Sunny's indignation) and rushed out of the room and into the corridor. People were running around shouting and panicking, causing much confusion. "This way" Violet said quickly and they ran towards the nearest exit,

There were lots of people crowding round the exit, all trying to squirm out at once, someone shouted to Violet from the front of the crowd that she should pass Bea to him so that he could get her out. Violet looked down at the toddler in her arms and then at Klaus who kissed Bea on the forehead and Sunny leaned in and stroked her hair. Violet nodded at her siblings and whispered to Bea, "We love you. We will get out of here and see you again soon," Bea looked up at her worriedly, Violet smiled reassuringly, "don't worry, we'll get out alright – don't we always? We'll come and find you and then everything will be alright"

Then Violet lifted the little girl over the heads of the panicked people and watched as she was passed through the jostling crowds to the man and rushed outside to safety.

Violet looked at her siblings determinedly and said, "Come on, we're never going to get through this way in time, we'll have to find another way."

* * *

><p>Quigley lay in the corner of his cell; hands tied behind his back and dried blood mixing with his salty tears across his dirty face. He felt numb, void of all feeling. Nothing mattered anymore, nothing at all. Not the loud footsteps that clattered down the corridor. Or the jangling sound of keys that accompanied them. Or the red ringlets that framed a certain pointy face that peered through the bars at him. "Pst, cake sniffer!" Carmelita whispered at him urgently, "Wake up!"<p>

Quigley gave her a bored look before closing his eyes pointedly. He heard her growl, frustrated before there was louder jangling of the keys as they hit the floor, "They're still alive you know," she hissed, "Just."

Quigley frowned inwardly trying to take in what Carmelita was saying. His eyes flew open ready to bombard her with questions but she was gone, Quigley hit the floor of his cell in anger before noticing the keys just outside of the cell and just in arms reach. He stared amazed at them before struggling fiercely with the rope around his wrists. After a few moments he realised it wasn't going to work. He looked at the keys in despair then started to chew desperately at the ties. They slowly started to loosen and eventually he was free – almost. Scrambling over to the door of his cell, Quigley squeezed his arm through the bars. His fingers brushed the metal and he clutched the rusting hoop they were attached to. He quickly found a key that matched the lock and slotted it in without much difficulty. The door swung open and Quigley raced out and down the corridor. There was still hope.

* * *

><p>Beatrice was put down gently onto the ground, quite a distance from the slowly burning building; flames began to lick up the walls leaving dark scorch marks in their place. People, like ants, were milling out of the building and making their way to safety. Bea stared wide eyed up at the man who had taken her but he was no longer paying attention to her, talking quickly to a companion. After a few moments he crouched down to her and looked her in the eye, "don't worry, I'll be back little one."<p>

He winked and ran off back towards the slowly crumbling building, already part of the left side had collapsed and Beatrice silently wished luck upon the brave man that headed back. She just hoped that out of the hundreds of volunteers that hurried from the flames, her guardians had made it out of there as safely as she had.

* * *

><p>Isadora held her brother's hand tightly, her back against the wall and a blindfold around her head. She heard Duncan whispering quietly beside her but she couldn't quite make out a coherent sentence, he was probably frantically trying to think up a way out like she was. But there was no way out of this one she realised as her stomach tightened and she tensed. She thought of her other brother, the one always left behind, and thought of his bleak future stuck in a cell for years waiting to receive his fortune so he can finally be killed. It was all so hopeless, the Baudelaires probably thought they were already dead or soon to be, Quigley was tied up in his cell for causing too much trouble. No one could help them now. Then Isadora thought of Klaus. She'd never see him again so just one last time, she decided, she allowed herself to picture his face, she'd never get another chance after all, before sunset it would be too late.<p>

* * *

><p>Adrenaline coursed through Quigley as he ran... but to where? He had no idea where he was going or where he could even begin to find his siblings. He slowed to a halt and panted heavily, what could he do now? He leaned against a wall opposite a door with a small circular window in it. Curiosity winning a short internal battle, Quigley glanced through the window. There was Carmelita again, in what looked like a kind of kitchen, and there was an older woman shouting at her profusely. What surprised Quigley was that Carmelita actually looked scared. He pushed the door open slightly so he could hear what the woman was saying, "...and Esmé <em>will <em>find out about this, mark my words! You little traitor! You're a sneak and a thief, helping those murderers like a common criminal! You'll be punished harshly"

Carmelita looked extremely pale as she clutched at the woman's skirts, "Please, Hetty, please! I didn't mean it! I was only messing about, that's all! Please don't tell her."

As the woman looked down at the tearful girl, pity and sorrow flashed across her face, "What's happened to you, girl? You seem so different all of a sudden" Carmelita just sniffed and the woman continued softly, "I'll not tell her right away, she's got enough to be getting on with at the moment I reckon, what with those troublesome orphans and the attack on the base near precarious pier... but that don't mean I won't tell her eventually. I'll be as bad as you if I don't" the woman sent a determined yet apologetic look at Carmelita, tugged her skirts from the girl's grasp and left by another door on the other side of the room. Quigley listened worriedly; Esmé had planned an attack on the headquarters? Violets face flashed across his mind, what if she was in trouble? He should go back right away and help. But his siblings needed his help too, he had to rescue them first and he still didn't know where they were. He was about to set off down the corridor to start his search when Quigley peered through the window in the door again, Carmelita was now sobbing on the floor in the middle of the room, he opened the door wider and stepped inside. Quigley went over and put his arm around her comfortingly, "I'm sorry" he said quietly.

At that Carmelita only cried harder, "What can I do?" she choked between sobs, "_She'll_ kill me, Quigley, I know she will"

Quigley stared at Carmelita not missing her use of his first name, he recovered quickly and said, "You'll be alright, help me rescue my brother and sister and together we'll escape from this awful place"

"It's too late, they've been moved to a high security section - we'd never be able to get in"

"If we just try-"

"-you don't understand: You. Cannot. Get. In. It's impossible." Carmelita interrupted sternly.

"It can't be _impossible._ They are my family, I can't just abandon them." Quigley muttered back.

Carmelita threw her head back exasperatedly, "Look, even if we did somehow manage it, we'd never get there in time, the execution is supposed to take place in less than ten minutes!"

Quigley opened his mouth but Carmelita cut across him quickly, "You have to get past the guards, steal a pod, take it to the next submarine rock along, somehow get them to let you in through the valve, get past more guards, find out where they are in that sub and then get past Esmé and her personal crew... oh, and then we'd have to get back out again. We don't have the time or a plan"

Quigley looked at her hopelessly, "They might delay it like they did before. We have to try"

"We'd be killed!"

"We have to try!"

"We'll never make it"

"We _have _to try"

"I don't know why I'm agreeing to this"

Quigley just grinned as he jumped up pulling the red haired girl with him.


End file.
